COLUMBUS, Ohio-Ohio’s recent expansion of private school vouchers has led to a notable increase in their use, particularly in affluent communities and suburbs like Bay Village, Rocky River, Chardon, and Twinsburg in Northeast Ohio. Despite the surge in voucher usage and substantial financial support for private schools, there has not been a significant decrease in student enrollment within these districts, according to an analysis by Ideastream based on Ohio Department of Education data from June. Bay Village, for instance, experienced a nearly 3,000% rise in EdChoice Expansion voucher usage from the 2022-2023 to the 2023-2024 school year, reflecting the program’s expanded eligibility and the state’s substantial investment of nearly $1 billion into the voucher initiative.
